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The solution

Orchidean One: trash that becomes light.

A waste-to-energy plant: it takes the trash we bury today, turns it into electricity and leaves the air clean and measured. Proven technology, designed for Costa Rica.

  • 1,000 t/day of trash no longer buried
  • 20 MW net of firm power for the grid
  • 50,000 homes equivalent supplied*
  • 90% less trash volume

* Estimate. Final figures will be confirmed by detailed engineering and the ongoing waste study.

Step by step

How it works.

No jargon: this is how trash goes in and power comes out.

  1. 01

    Arrives sealed

    Closed trucks unload inside a sealed building.

    The air inside that hall is drawn into the furnace and burned. Odors don’t get out — they get destroyed.

  2. 02

    Gets transformed

    Between 850 and 1,100 °C, waste turns into heat.

    A moving multi-stage grate keeps the waste moving and mixing so it burns completely. Gases stay at least 2 seconds above 850 °C, as European rules require, destroying bacteria and hazardous compounds.

  3. 03

    Makes electricity

    Heat makes steam, steam spins a turbine.

    The turbine generates electricity for the national grid, day and night, rain or shine.

  4. 04

    Cleans the air

    Gases go through several cleaning stages before leaving.

    Acids are neutralized, particles and metals captured, and emissions measured continuously, in public view.

  5. 05

    Uses what’s left

    Waste shrinks to about one tenth of its volume.

    Metals are recovered for recycling. Bottom ash can be reused in construction, as it is in Europe.

Inside

Three paths, all under control.

Everything that enters the plant leaves by one of these three paths. None of them is a mystery.

Energy

  1. Sealed pit
  2. Grate at 850–1,100 °C
  3. Boiler: steam
  4. Turbine
  5. National grid

Air

  1. Hot gases
  2. Multi-stage cleaning
  3. Continuous measuring
  4. Stack

Materials

  1. Metals → recycling
  2. Bottom ash → reusable in construction
  3. Fine ash → controlled handling

Minimum 850 °C for 2 seconds, per EU Directive 2010/75/EU.1 Bottom ash reuse in construction: common practice in Denmark and the Netherlands.2

Made for here

Designed for Costa Rica.

Moving multi-stage grate

Belgian-designed technology that keeps the waste moving and mixing, for complete, even combustion between 850 and 1,100 °C.

Built for wet waste

Our trash has a lot of organic matter. That’s why a study of the country’s actual waste is under way to fine-tune the design, and the sealed pit lets it drain before the furnace.

Earthquake-resistant

Designed to Costa Rica’s Seismic Code, as required for any structure of its size in the country.

Part of the landscape

Green roof, low-profile architecture and trees all around. It should look like what it is: a plant for a green country.

Open to people

A visitor center for schools and communities. Like CopenHill in Copenhagen, the plant is also a place to learn.

The international waste association ISWA sets a minimum heating value for this type of plant; the design is validated against characterization of Costa Rican waste.3

And the air?

It’s the most important question, and it has its own page: what comes out, how much and how you can check it.

Air & health Public monitoring

Was this useful? Pass it on.

One informed person is worth a thousand rumors. Send this link to your family, your neighborhood group or your local council.

Sources

  1. Directiva 2010/75/UE sobre emisiones industriales, Anexo VI, parte 3 (límites para incineración de residuos).
  2. CEWEP. Hoja informativa sobre reutilización de cenizas de fondo.
  3. ISWA (2024). Guía de valorización energética para países de ingresos bajos y medios.
  4. Amager Resource Center (CopenHill), presentación ante el CESE de la UE, 2025.